Implantable electrode lines and respective electrode heads are a component of various electronic medical arrangements, specifically of cardiac pacemaker systems and implantable defibrillator systems, but also of arrangements for nerve or brain stimulation and also of arrangements for detecting action potentials and other electrical signals from a patient's body, for example, and are essential to the function of said arrangements. The reliable functioning of said arrangements, which in any case should also be safe for the patient, is therefore an indispensable prerequisite for their clinical use. Aspects such as sterilizability, easy handling and reasonable costs also play a key role in the development and the use of electrode lines and electrode heads.
For many applications, many electrode lines have to be designed such that their distal end can be securely fixed at the destination to, or in, a hollow organ (for example, the heart) or vessel of the patient. To meet this requirement, under consideration of the above-mentioned general requirements of electrode lines, comprehensive development efforts have been made over decades and a wide range of technical solutions proposed.
Among these, what are known as “screw heads” have achieved particular significance in practice, in which a helical coil is housed in the electrode head and, when the electrode line is implanted at the destination, is rotated out from the electrode head in a distal direction by the surgeon, and in doing so is simultaneously screwed into the tissue portion of the patient against which the electrode head abuts distally. Known screw heads consist of a plurality of interconnected cylindrical sleeves, usually made of a metal compatible with the body, and occasionally made of thermoplastics, such as PU (polyurethane) or PEEK (polyetheretherketone).
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the above-mentioned problems.